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Saturday, July 25, 2009

I need to piece quilt blocks. I need it for what little remains of my mental health. What's really wonderful is that I'm lucky enough to have a husband who understands that and friends who share the piecing/sewing addiction with me. So, I decided to have a sewing day at my little shop last Saturday. A couple of people got a lot done, a couple of us -- not so much -- but ALL of us enjoyed ourselves, talked, laughed and discussed the world's (at least OUR world's) problems! Of course people brought Show & Tell. (What would a Sewing Day be without S&T??)

(Okay. Now I"m going to try and upload some photos. Wish me luck!)

(Hey! Success! Whaddayaknow!!!)

Here's Sheila with her latest quilt. Sheila does hand quilting for people because that's the part of quilting that she loves. The quilt that she's showing off here is a Double Wedding Ring that was pieced by her soon-to-be-daughter-in-law and Sheila hand quilted it for them. It's gorgeous and I wish I'd thought to take some close-ups of the quilting. Sheila designed some of the quilting patterns herself and they're really nice. The back of the quilt is almost as pretty as the front (because you can see the quilting better there)! Sheila's still got to do the binding and then it will be ready for the wedding. (Can you believe it? A quilt DONE before the wedding?)

Here's a quilt that Sheila pieced from one of my patterns (Potluck Pinwheels). Isn't it fun? She used all 30's reproduction fabrics and then, of course, hand quilted it in the ditch.

This is an antique quilt that Sheila found in a shop for a bargain price. (That sure never happens to me!) It's a simple little quilt with gorgeous hand quilting. The flowers are blanket-stitched to the blocks and it's got a little sun fading on one border -- but it's still a wonderful quilt. We're assuming, because of the fabrics, that it was made in the 30's some time.

Maud brought this piece that she's working on for a challenge. If I understand it correctly, all the participants were given a photo of a garden and were supposed to interpret it in fabric. This is Maud's take on the photo. She designed the block herself and it's really got some interesting piecing. Maud's still working on the machine quilting.

You might get the idea here that Maud likes color! The fabrics are all stripes and the blocks are all curved piecing. (I apologize for the shadow in the photo!) I love this piece -- it's striking!

Maud decided she wanted to use up the last of her oriental cotton fabrics so she pieced and quilted this quilt. Talk about a change in style! I love that vine wending it's way up the panel. All the leaves are hand appliqued and made from dupioni silk. (If you've never worked with dupioni silk -- it's wonderful!)

Linda just finished this wall quilt a couple of weeks ago. She's been working on it for a while between making her purses (you'll see those in the next photo.) She pieced the blocks, appliqued the hearts and then machine quilted it on her sewing machine. It's beautifully done and lays so nice and flat! (I REALLY need to spend more time practicing my machine quilting!) It looks great hanging on her living room wall!

Here's our little working (?) group looking over the handbags Linda brought. (Her company is Linda O Designs.) She makes these bags and they're WONDERFUL! You simply can't find anything like this in the stores. They're beautiful, extremely well made, Scotchguarded and machine washable.

Just so you know -- gathered around the table from left to right are Maud, Cindy, Linda and Sheila.

Lovely to meet a new blogger- it is lots of fun and I am sure you are going enjoy getting to know many bloggers from all over the world. Don't be afraid to ask any questions - someone in blog land is always willing to help and share what they have learned.With best wishes,Regards from a Western Canadian quilter,Anna

Great photos and welcome to blog land. I just started myself and Mary from quilting from Oz has reaaly help me threw lots of stuff. If I need some help with the blog shes always there to help. So I know your in good hands and I hope you enjoy as much as I do.